


Hunters and Arrows and Pigs, Oh My!

by plottingalong



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Giant pigs, Heroes of Olympus, Humor, Hunters of Artemis (Percy Jackson), Original Character(s), Post-The Mark of Athena (Heroes of Olympus)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-20
Updated: 2020-07-20
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:47:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25409413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/plottingalong/pseuds/plottingalong
Summary: Wyatt, a demigod, stumbles upon the Hunters of Artemis, much to their chagrin.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 13





	Hunters and Arrows and Pigs, Oh My!

The silver arrow would've killed me if it hadn't been for my mom's Kevlar vest. As it was, it shattered against my chest, the shaft fluttering to the ground. Despite the fact I was unharmed, the arrow did nothing to help my anxiety. I'd been on the run for days now, eating food out of the bear proof dumpsters and checking over my shoulder for what I knew was there- my mom's attacker.   
Mom.   
The pain in my throat spread to the pit of my stomach. I tried to blink away the tears that came to my eyes, but to no avail. My mom, Anna Betts, was the strongest woman I'd known. She'd had me when she was quite young and single- her fiance had died in a freak accident. She was the only thing I had, until she'd been gored by a pig the night before yesterday, when my world had gone completely nuts.   
Another arrow shrieked pass my ear, testimony to the wackiness that had raged in the last 72 hours. I used to be just another kid in Roosevelt Public Middle school- probably one of the hundreds of Roosevelt Public Middle Schools, playing Pokemon Go with my friends and struggling with algebra, being a good kid, but all that seemed to have no importance since the moment the pig had ravaged my apartment.   
A third arrow barely registered, dully hitting my side and falling with a clunk. I knew I should move, find protection, but I was dead on my feet and still in a daze. After a few more moments of wayward thoughts, I finally ducked to the ground. My mind was dizzy with exhaustion and hunger, and it didn't seem like I could outrun those silver arrows anyway. I might as well get some rest while my attackers neared.   
Footsteps sounded out now, lots of them. I wondered almost lazily how ugly the new beastie would be- would it have claws, talons or acid dripping from its mouth? I didn't think anything would surprise me anymore, not after the devilish cab driver and the snaky pizza delivery guy. I looked up out of curiosity at my attacker, and yelped in surprise.   
They were girls. Ten of them, which quickly grew in number, coming out from behind pines, all armed with bows and followed by wolves. They seemed like normal middle and high school age girls dressed up for Halloween. Some of them were dressed in jeans and t-shirts with modern sayings, and others were dressed in chitons as if they were doing something for a history project. The one thing they all shared was a look of malice as they glared at me.   
"Hi," I said, my voice coming out as a squeak, "who are you? Can we be friends?"  
A punk looking girl glared at me. She seemed like the type who'd beat me up in the hallways between classes or snatch my pencil case during lunchtime, so I wasn't shocked to discover her voice was more than a bit unfriendly.   
"I'm Thalia Grace," she said tiredly, "and we can most definitely not be friends."  
I struggled to my feet, gulping nervously as the girls stared him down.   
"I'm sorry if I've done anything to you," I muttered, "I'm just a kid, I come in peace."  
"You're a boy," a girl in the group added helpfully. She seemed to be younger than me by a couple years and her skin was tinged green. "I don’t think that’s possible."

None of the girls seemed to want to argue with this ridiculously sexist statement, so I put up my hands in a placating gesture. They seemed like a cult- a cult intent on tearing me up to pieces, just like just about everyone these last few days. One of this first things my mom had told me was to always respect girls, and I respected these ones, all right, but I didn't want to end up like a pincushion. They'd discover mom's Kevlar soon enough, and then where would I be?  
"Look, I don't want any trouble," I said, "I'm unarmed, I'm hungry, I'm filthy and my mom and I were attacked by a giant pig a few days ago. You people seemed tuned in. Can you please tell me what's going on?"  
At the words giant pig, most of the girls lowered their bows, and the hostility on their faces went down a couple notches, from let's kill him as creatively as possible to let's hear what he has to say and then kill him as creatively as possible.   
I seized the chance.   
"So, like, if you could take me to your leader or whatever that would be great. If not, it was nice knowing you."  
They made no move, so I smiled apologetically and turned to go, but the girl named Thalia gripped me by the arm.   
"You're not going anywhere," she growled. "I'll take you to our leader. You better be on your best behavior unless you want to get turned into a jackal."  
With that uplifting warning, she dug her fingers into my arm and started dragging me into the woods. It took almost an hour of dragging to get wherever we were going.   
"I can walk," I said after ten minutes of being relentlessly pulled on by Thalia, who in addition to being head taller than me was also several times stronger.   
"You can also run," she answered, "and you're our best lead. It'll be better if you cooperate."  
It didn't seem like cooperation was possible. Whenever I started walking, one of the girls would trip me or kick me and Thalia would roughly pull me upwards, yanking my arm almost out of its socket. Finally, after an hour, we reached the camp.   
When I say the camp, I don't mean a few tents scattered here and there, but more like a full-on military operation. Sentries were posted every couple of feet, armed with more wolves, patrolling the edges. They nodded stiffly when they saw us file back into camp and then continued staring into the falling darkness with suspicious glances. There were tents- a whole battalion of them, lined up in tidy rows, but also kennels and what seemed like an open air kitchen, where a girl was skinning what looked like a whole, dead, deer. Another girl was stirring a huge pot with something that smelled great. In the middle of the camp, as if in a place of honor, stood a tent exactly like the ones lined up. Girls kept sending apprehensive glances towards it as if it might burst into flames, which it did. A great fireball combusted, lighting the tent up for a moment. I thought I saw a shadow of someone in there, but it quickly faded away. A girl who couldn't've been older than seven stumbled out of the tent, which was miraculously untouched, her blonde hair on fire. Somebody who looked like her older sister swatted it out and sent a worried look at two other girls who rushed into the tent, one of them carrying a pitcher of water. I suddenly realized why everyone here was grim faced. There was some kind of monster inside that tent. 

"What do you have in there?" I whispered, "is it your prisoner?"   
Thalia shook her head tensely and motioned for me to be silent, to which I complied. I had a feeling that any wrong move in this camp would end in my death and these warrior girls' extreme satisfaction. They'd probably feed me to whatever was in that tent. As if she'd read my thoughts, a black haired girl exited the tent that had just gone up in flames and walked towards Thalia.   
"How is she?" Thalia asked worriedly.   
"She's combusted only a few times since you've left," the girl answered, "but she keeps mumbling about that pig. Do you know?..." She trailed off hopefully, glancing at me with a look of disgust I'd come to attach to snobby girls and school principals.  
"He might be able to help us," Thalia said. "I'm taking him to see her."  
The girl sighed. "Good luck," she finally said and walked away. Thalia turned to me, a worried expression on her face.   
"Come on," she finally said, making her way through the camp her hand still clutching my arm, "you'll get your wish. We're going to see the boss."   
The tent was surprisingly nice and cozy for something that had gone up in flames a few minutes ago. It was illuminated by floating torches that gave it a homey look, in a wild, savage way, and the floor was carpeted by the plush fur of a creature that I'd never heard of, probably because it'd been killed by these ladies to make a rug. At the far end of the room, there were a few fluffy pillows draped in furs, as if Ikea had decided to go for an outdoor poaching look. Laying on them was a girl who looked about ten.   
It was hard to believe that she was the one who'd combusted a few minutes ago, but the frightened and awed expression on Thalia's face convinced me that this was the monster. She was laying with her eyes closed, a damp cloth on her forehead. She was wearing hunting clothes like most of the girls around camp, and her hair was gathered in a braid. She hardly seemed to be breathing. Thalia knelt down and the look in her eyes told me to do the same.   
"My lady," she said quietly, "I come with information."  
Immediately, the girl's eye flew open. They were scarily silver, like two polished quarters, if quarters could scare the living daylights out of you.   
"Speak," she said hoarsely, her fingers clutching at the furs covering her.   
"This boy, we found him in the woods. He claims to have been attacked by a giant pig."  
The girl raised her hand weakly. "Speak, boy," she whispered. I gulped.  
"A pig came in and wrecked my house. I ran." I said shortly.   
"What did it look like? Did it have special markings?" Thalia asked earnestly.   
"It was the size of a mansion," I said, "and smelled like the sewers. It had huge tusks."  
Thalia, for some reason, seemed excited. "My lady, that is the boar we are looking for! If we kill it, perhaps-"  
"No, Thalia," the lady muttered, "the boar is my own fault, my own creature. It should not be destroyed. I am too weak to bring it back to it's peaceful habitat. It mustn't be harmed."  
Thalia didn't look happy, but she knelt. "Yes, m'lady," she said. "What should I do with the boy?"

"I have a name, you know," I said loudly. "My name is Wyatt Bett." A wheezy sound came from the lady. After a moment, I realized it was laughing.   
"Wyatt," gasp, chuckle, "what was your mother's name?"  
"Anna," I said nervously.   
The lady sighed and tried to get her breathing back in order.   
"Don't kill him yet," she said to Thalia, "but keep him. He may be useful."  
"What did his mother do?" Thalia asked curiously.   
"She left me," the lady said, "many years ago, for my brother. I suppose she regrets it now."   
"She's dead," I said quietly. "The pig killed her." The lady fell silent. "I'm sorry to hear that," she finally said. "She was a good comrade. Her only mistake was falling in love with my idiot brother. Go in peace now, Wyatt, before I kill you."  
I nodded and ducked out of the tent with Thalia, just as it burst in flames for the second time. Once the brightness of the fireball went down a few notches, and I could see again, I turned to Thalia.   
"That was unusual," I commented. She smiled sadly.   
"Usually she is a sight to behold, but now... the war with the gods is destroying her, ripping her apart. The vengeful side of her keeps doing irrational things... like making that pig mad, for instance. We don't know how to stop it."  
Thalia looked so sad I wanted to comfort her in some way but I knew that if I did anything even remotely close to an attack she would have me dead in a heartbeat, so instead I turned to my favorite question lately.   
"Sorry to bother you, but can you please explain what's going on?"  
Thalia smiled. "I remember when I ran away from home... It seems so long ago. Tell me, Wyatt, who are you?"  
"I dunno," I said. "I mean, I used to know, but for the last few days..."  
"Let me guess," Thalia said, "you're a middle schooler, average guy, maybe diagnosed with ADHD or dyslexia, right?"  
"Yup," I said.   
"Well," Thalia said, "there's no easy way to explain, but here it is- you father, if I understood correctly, was a god. Your mom, which is more unusual, used to serve under my lady."  
"Why is that unusual?" I asked, "and who is your lady?"  
"My lady," Thalia said quietly, "is Artemis, goddess of the hunt, which means your dad must be Apollo, her twin. Us hunters are sworn to forsake men, and your mother broke that vow. Perhaps that's why the boar hunted you."  
I gaped at Thalia for a few moments. She looked completely serious, and what she was saying tallied up exactly with what every beastie had been telling me for the past three days... except for one thing.   
"All those monsters I kept running into said I was a newbie," I said. "Not trained, that's how they put it. Is there... you know, a place to train?"  
Thalia's eyes turned sad.   
"Yes," she said, "there is. It's called Camp Half-Blood."

"Is it a good place?" I asked.   
Thalia nodded. "Fairly good. I spent most of my time there as a tree, but-"  
"As a tree?" I repeated.   
Thalia waved her hand. "Long story. Anyway, yes. That's where you should be headed. Normally, we'd have somebody escort you, but now..."  
"You need everyone you can get," I said. "Including me. Why?"  
Thalia shrugged. "Artemis probably thinks you'll be good bait."  
"How touching," I grumbled. "These days it seems as if that's all I'm good for."  
"You're a boy," Thalia said, as if it was some kind of insult, "so yes, you're correct. Bait and fish food." With that encouraging comment, she turned around. "He can sleep in the kennels," she said to a ginger haired girl standing nearby. "Make sure he doesn't get into too much trouble."  
She marched away back towards Lady Artemis's tent. I followed the ginger-haired girl to the kennels. A wolf stared at me disapprovingly and turned its back.  
"How surprising." I muttered to myself. "Even the wolves hate me." I fell asleep, dreaming of giant, sexist pigs that wanted to eat me alive.


End file.
